Contact 2 (Chronicle)
Chapter: 1 “And now presenting our champions, the Matoran Captains!” Valta looked around in wonder. He had done it. They all had done it. They were Matoran Captains! Valta looked once again at his new partners. Gami, Boton, Ahrii, Koreye, and Idruka. They were all good Matoran, and was glad to have good companions, even though he had much more to learn of them. I’ll deal with that later, he thought. Now I have other things to do. But even as he walked forward with the other Captains he still couldn’t help thinking back to the previous days that had passed. The first sign of the trouble began with the Great Competition. Matoran in each of the six Zones where to race, ski, lava board, or whatever their provincial sport. The six winners would be declared Matoran Captains, protectors of the Matoran. Some Matoran found this strange (Valta included). They already had the legendary Toa to protect them, and thousands of them. What difference would six Matoran make? Still, Matoran joined, driven by curiosity. Valta Lava Boarded himself to the finals, but that was when the real trouble started. After a few close encounters with a cheating Matoran called Torgak, and after saving a Matoran from one of his tricks, Valta and Torgak where confronted by a creature of nightmares. A huge lava beast reared out of the magma, almost killing the two. Torgak pushed Valta overbalance and sped off. The beast immediately vaporized the cheating Matoran, and then went for Valta, who had barely balanced himself away from the hot magma. Out of the blue came Toa Sma, saving Valta form a fiery death, speeding him to safety. After a close battle between Sma and the Monster, Valta was awarded the rank of Matoran Captain of Fire, for showing great bravery, and because he saved the Matoran. Besides the disturbing attack from the alien, other bad news followed. Similar incidents had been reported at the other finals. At all of the other 5 competitions, a cheating Matoran had been the first sign of trouble, and then a alien suddenly appeared. Luckily, all the winners had survived, and now they where here, to be officially awarded the honour of being Matoran Captains of Torongo Nui. The Matoran walked forward to the leaders of Torongo Nui. Toa Firaud, general of the Toa, and leader of the Toa Torongo stood in the back. His hands were free of weapons, which was a rare sight because the only other time Valta had saw him was when he was fighting a swarm of Nui-Rama, both hands full with a fire blade and a Nyrah blaster. Beside him stood Sma, and a few other Toa of Fire. In front of them stood the chieftains of the continent, the Turaga of each Metru. Tava of Sma-Metru, Gordo of Ma-Metru, Huta of Nu-Metru, Stok of Pa-Metru, Coap of Ka-Metru, and finally Laed of To-Metru. They each held a simple staff, with a circle shape on the top. They each wore the colour of their own elements. And then in the front was Turaga Wan, chieftain of Torongo Nui, and leader of the Turaga council. He was a Turaga of Sonics, a element rarely heard of. Nobody knew much about him, as he was a very secretive individual. But because of his wisdom, they had made him the leader of Torongo Nui. The Matoran bowed before him and he put up a hand to signal silence from the crowd. “Brave Matoran, you have shown me in the past few days one important thing, anybody can be a hero. Other Matoran competing with you, with the exception of a few, have shown me that anybody can be a traitor. This makes me both sad, and happy. But I know you deserve the right to become Matoran Captains. I am proud to announce you, Matoran Captains! The crowd cheered wildly and Valta and the others waved triumphantly. “Wahoo!” Shouted Idruka. “I can’t believe we’ve won,” Gami said in a whisper. “You better believe it,” Ahrii shouted. “This is great!” “What about you Icy!” Idruka cried energetically, “Excited to be a hero?” “Just a little.” Koreye replied, disguising his true feelings, “And my name is not Icy.” “What about you Lavarider,” Idruka said, “Any future plans? Going to take a trip to the beaches of North Nu-Wahi? Or do a bit of recreational skiing in Ka-Wahi? I don’t know about you, but I’m going to enjoy this herofun!” “I think I may get some fighting lessons from Firaud, there may be tough times ahead.” Valta said soberly. “Are you the Ko-Matoran or is it just me?! What would you want to swordfight, a Fikou spider?” the Le-Matoran laughed. “Have you forgotten our encounter with those monsters already?” Boton asked, “This is serious!” Hey, I’m just trying to have some playfun!” Idruka retorted. After many shaken hands at greetings from other Toa, the Matoran began to get out of their seats and set up activities, like magic tricks and many other entertainment features. Although it was a time of rejoice, it was also a time for business. Firaud and Sma where the last to walk up to them. “I will personally be looking forward to getting to know you as my comrades, and training you as warriors. Soon enough, you’ll know what a Toa has to do,” Firaud said. “What about the beasts?” Asked Gami. “Do you know anything else about their origin?” “Not much more,” Firaud answered. “Turaga Wan, acting against my better judgment, has told me to wait until you are fully trained to organize a search party. By then I fear it will be to late, no offence to you Matoran.” “No offence taken.” Boton said for them all. Firaud nodded. Suddenly, a flash of light illuminated in the blue, afternoon sky. All the inhabitants of the stadium looked away as the light threatened to burn out their eyes. Finally, it stopped and was gradually replaced by a dim orange light, which drew closer and closer by the second. The sky slowly began to darken. Turaga Wan stared at the pinpoint of light in the suddenly darkening sky. “Get everyone out of here.” He said. “I sense great danger, evacuate the city, get all the Toa!” Firaud immediately obeyed the Turaga, being his bodyguard as well. He ran down the middle of the field, and jumped up in the air. A device on his back whirred to life and a white wheel of energy appeared, glowing in the darkening sky. It lifted him up in the sky, to a small control box. Valta watched in fascination as Firaud expertly landed in the tower, and began searching for a speaker for the stadium loudspeakers. “Come on,” Valta beckoned to the other 5 Matoran. “Lets get everybody out of here.” Chapter: 2 Matoran rushed to any exit they could find in the stadium, directed by Toa guards. Valta and the other Matoran captains rushed to any filled seats, telling the Matoran to evacuate. Firaud’s voice could be heard blaring through the speakers, telling everyone to head out of Blaze Stadium. Soon, only the Toa guards, Sma, Firaud, Turaga Wan, and the Matoran captains were left remaining. A Toa motioned for them to head for the gates, “You should leave.” Sma waved him away, “Let them be. They’ve braved aliens before, they’ll be fine. Just stick close.” Koreye looked up in the sky, checking the lights progress. What do you mean? More aliens?” Sma looked away as he answered. “Maybe.” Koreye looked at Sma carefully. As he lived in the Ice Zone, Koreye didn’t no much about Sma, but he was pretty sure he was hiding something. And he had a good guess about what it was about. Koreye wasn’t usually didn’t think a lot. He even was considered highly talkative for a Ko-Matoran. But right now he thought back to the beginning of Torongo Nui. The first thing Koreye remembered in his existence, was staring off a glacier in Ka-Wahi, looking through a howling blizzard. The cold didn’t bother him for some reason, but he felt oddly strange. He couldn’t remember anything of where he came from and who he was. All but his name, Koreye. It didn’t take him long to get up and start looking around for others. He soon saw other Ko-Matoran (he remembered what that meant), and went to join them. They where all huddled around a fire, not talking. Koreye asked if they knew where they where and who he was, but they all couldn’t remember anything much as well. Suddenly a large wolf like Rahi Animal jumped out of a blanket of snow. It bounded toward the Matoran, scattering them. It stepped on their fire, snuffing it out with its cold paw. It bounded to the first Matoran but stopped because of a huge gust of snow. Then the snow cleared to reveal a tall armoured figure holding a spear. He moved quickly, tackling the Rahi and tossing it to the side with enormous strength. He then pointed his spear and out came a beam of Ice, freezing the creature. Ko-Matoran are a brave bunch, so Koreye and the others went out to timidly meet the newcomer. He said his name was Kaju, a Toa of Ice, there to protect them. Koreye had asked if he remembered who he was. He shrugged and told him that the time for questions would come soon. But it never did. Koreye had followed Kaju along with the other Matoran to a large camp, full of more Matoran like him and other Toa. Whenever someone inquired about if any of the Toa knew who any of them where, they would either say, I…… can’t remember, or the time for questions would come. And that’s how it continued, some Toa seemed to know who everyone was, but wouldn’t tell, and other where as clueless as the Matoran. Soon the Turaga came, organizing the Ko-Matoran into villages (Koro) and making the capital of the Ice Zone, Ka-Metru. But when the Turaga where asked about who they where, it was said that all would be revealed some day. And it never had. It had all been the same in the other Zones, but some didn’t worry. The Toa and Turaga where loving beings, and helped the Matoran learn many skills. No one disliked the Turaga or Toa, they where just frustrated. But sometimes a Toa or Turaga tripped, referring to the past sometimes, but then when they where questioned, they would cover up what they said. Just like what Sma had just done. Some Matoran now kept a archive of phrases and things that no one could or would explain. But Koreye now averted his thoughts and looked up in the sky when a Toa suddenly cried out. When they all looked, and everyone’s jaw dropped down. The object was right above them. It was huge, a couple kio up. Strange symbols were engraved on it, and it was headed point first, right in their direction. “Get away!” Firaud shouted. He sprinted to the right, out of the monoliths way. Everyone followed the cue, running after him. Turaga Wan hobbled behind, struggling to keep up. They finally reached the side of the stadium, just were the viewing seats were, Firaud turned around. “Turaga!” He shouted staring in horror as the light, now a gigantic ship, hurtled straight down, threatening to crush the Turaga. Suddenly one of the guards took action. Torren, a wall guard seated on the wall around the field jumped up. Suddenly, he changed into the shape of a Nui-Rama, much like the ones that attacked the factory. It swooped down, and raised one of its claws. He scooped the Turaga up, and then there was a huge explosion. Smoke filled the stadium, and some stray sparks hit Koreye’s chest plate. Everybody reeled backward, even the Toa, including the ones standing so far away on the top of the stadium wall. Suddenly, it was over. Smoke still obscured Koreye’s view but there was no more painful light or explosions. As the dust cleared he could gradually start to see the others. “Cough, cough!” Koreye could here everybody’s wheezing from the smoke and he realized his was among them. “Is everybody here?” Asked Sma. They watched Firaud exchange some signals with the wall guards. He turned around and informed them. “Everybody is accounted for except Torren and Turaga Wan.” He worried. “Over here!” A weathered old voice called. They turned around to see a strange site. A Nui-Rama, holding a Turaga, stuck on a flagpole! Sma started laughing at the site and the others couldn‘t resist a chuckle. Firaud activated the energy spinner on his back and flew up to the top of the flagpole. He ejected a built in hand knife in his armour and cut the pair loose to leave the shape shifting Torren to carry the Turaga safely to the ground. As he landed, Torren placed Turaga Wan on the ground and began to morph back into his chosen form, a Toa. He carried a small spear and a special Zamor sphere launcher that shot rounds of energy. He was a simple silver armour tone, and looked quite young. “Good job soldier,” Firaud complimented. “Shape shifter, right?” “Yes sir.” He replied in a smart young tone. Then they all turned to face the monolith. Its bottom rested in the middle of the stadium field, and covered more then half the field, and loomed over them, casting a dark shadow in the late afternoon sun. “Sir, what do we suggest we do?” Firaud asked the now recovered Turaga Wan. “I suggest we inspect the ship, do see who has landed it.” Firaud saluted, “Yes sir!” He then turned to face the others. “OK, we’ll need a heavily armed team. I need Sma, Koa, Joko, Maywana, Depi, and Torren.” He had mentioned all high ranking Toa besides Torren. The Toa’s face was confused for a second, but then changed back to a serious one. “Yes sir!” He rapped out. Firaud then looked at the Matoran Captain, “You’re coming with us. Just stay close and follow our lead.” He then turned to the remaining Toa, “Get the Turaga farther away from here and meet up with the others. If the residents of this vessel aren’t friendly, I’m going to call out a immediate evacuation of Sma-Metru.” Evacuation! Valta’s face betrayed himself for a moment when the others glanced at him. He knew this was serious, and the Toa didn’t want to risk any more lives then needed. Firaud continued, “Tell the guards to cover us, and wait for our return. We will need cover fire if things go wrong. Tell them to get Nova Guns from the weapon locker, and then until we get back. Dismissed.” They all went to their separate functions, and the inspection team headed for the ship. It towered above them, and wasn’t much of a walk because of the fact that that the artefact covered almost the entire field. Reaching a side of it, hey stared in awe at the perplexing hieroglyphics. The strange symbols dotted the ship, making everyone dizzy. “Come everyone.” Firaud and Sma began leading them to the other side. It wasn’t long before they reached their destination, two strange doors. They had no handles or symbols, making it distinguishable from the rest of the ship. Firaud tried to push the open, but to no avail. He stepped back and nodded too two of the Toa. They stepped forward and unleashed two beams of elemental energy, heat, and lava, and the doors swung open. They entered the pod, and where greeted by a maze of halls with no lighting. The floors, ceiling walls, everything was black. Their where no markings or grooves on anything. “Oh, great, what happycheer.” Idruka muttered unhappily. “Now we are stuck in a darkmaze.” Sma lit a fire in his hand and shrugged at Idruka and they carried on. Valta studied the walls. They were pitch black in color and were as smoother then a still protodermis pond. Suddenly theystopped. They were at a dead end. “What now.” Whispered Boton. As if on command, the wall slid down, revealing a jet black elevator. “Do we go up?” Wondered Ahrii. “No other ways,” Sma said They all ped in and were carried up. Suddenly it speeded up, almost giving Valta a heart attack. Floor after floor whizzed by, just a mere blur at the speed they were being carried at. “Jump!” Firaud ordered. They all leaped off the platform, and landed in another hall. “Not again!” Gami groaned. But it wasn’t the same. This hall was different. Wide slits in the wall held white figures, totally standing out in their environment. Koreye and Boton approached one. “What are they?” Asked Boton. “Soldiers.” Firaud answered, noticing the claws, laser cannons, Zamor sphere launchers and protective spikes which they were armed with. “An attack force made up of robot drones to take over Torongo Nui. Just as I feared.” Sma nodded in agreement and the others went to study the Drones. “So what do we do now?” Asked Ahrii. “Complete are mission, and find out the remaining question, why.” Sma answered. They continued down the hall, looking at the countless drones that lined the walls. Their dimmed red eyes still seemed to stare at them. “And this is only one hall.” Gami whispered, afraid. “One hall of countless floors and sections. There must be-“ “-Thousands of them.” Valta finished. “Maybe even a million.” They had now reached the end of the hall. It ended with another elevator but there was a computer put in the wall right near it. “Great, this can show us what we‘re going to battlefight!” Idruka said. Firaud studied the consol. Its screen was blank and held no image or picture. No visible buttons or controls were visible on it and the only important looking object on it was a small slot. “Or not,” Idruka muttered. They studied it helplessly. What could possibly fit in a hole like that? The other Toa went to explore the halls in pairs, seeking for any other hidden dangers. “I know!” Idruka cried triumphantly. He took out one of his silver cutlasses and banged it against the computer. The screen lit up and a video began to play. Firaud glared at Idruka, “Don’t, ever, do, that, again.” Idruka shrugged, “We’ll it worked didn’t it.” Further conversation was interrupted as they concentrated on the video. They now watched the screen activate, revealing a page that displayed a diagram of the ship, displaying row after row of drones and countless levels of them. The program began showing them other parts of the ship. It appeared that this ship did not just carry drones, it carried other armies. Spider like Visorak, Rahi, Alien Creatures, and many others. “Definitely Axbru.” Valta heard Firaud mutter. He plugged in a small chip in the slot and downloaded the computers contents in a nanosecond. Suddenly, the screen went black. “Uh oh.” Sma voiced unhappily. The cases that held the drones began to light up, and a whooping sound began sounding around the room. “I-I the-think-they know we-re here…….” Boton stuttered. “Run!” Firaud shouted, motioning for the Matoran to escape. Behind them, the cases for the drones were opening, and the drones jumped out in perfect unison. The Toa covered them, grabbing their weapons and using their elemental powers against the Drones. They seemed to shrug the blasts off, and even Firaud’s most intense blast of heat didn’t leave a debt in their armour. Valta (leading them) suddenly bumped into something, and tripped. Looking up, he saw two Drones look down at him, about to plunge their claws into his chest. Suddenly they staggered backwards, and fell over in a heap. Koreye jumped over Valta and retrieved his swords. “You saved me,” Valta stated. Koreye looked a little shaken, “Hurry, we got to go.” He helped Valta up and they continued running. The Toa, having seen Koreye’s tactic, all used their swords and spear. They plunged them into the Drones, cutting down the first few lines. Firaud and Sma took out their Nyrah Blaster and Zamor Sphere Launcher, and began to pelt the incoming forces with huge amounts energy. Suddenly the ship began to rumble slightly, from the amount of explosions. The Toa finally started running. Heading to the elevator, they took it all the way down to the hall below. Sprinting out of the doors, the leapt for cover as holes in the Ship began to open up, and aliens jumped out firing strange weapons. Chapter 3 “Run!” Koreye yelled the now familiar word, and they sped toward the gates. “Are we born for trouble or is it just me.” Koreye asked. They now found themselves facing a scene of utter madness. Other doors had appeared, more Drones and Alien Creatures pouring out of them. The guards stood surrounded at the gate only, 5 left. 4 of them stood with there weapons facing the crowd of creatures, and the other trying to remove the rubble that now blocked the gate, fallen there from a laser turret that could now be seen at the top of the ship. “They need help, come on!” Valta yelled and charged toward them, blades at ready. The others were a bit dazed by his recklessness, but sure enough charged forward to his aid. Firaud shot blasts of fire in front of them, half melting the approaching drones, no shield coming out to protect them how it had in the ship. Sma ran beside him, ready to add more fire to the beam of Firaud’s power if he needed to recharge. Torren, now in his regular form covered their rear, slashed at the 4 foot tall alien soldiers with his sword, breaking past the weak daggers of the aliens. The Matoran were not very well accustomed to using weapons, but managed to cover their flanks, clumsily hacking at the incoming waves of enemies. They didn’t hurt anyone, but it made their enemies cautious of the beautiful dangerous weapons. The rest of the Toa covered their back with Torren, melting aliens to pools of goo with fire and lava. Firaud had taken a small shoulder wound, and Valta had gotten a cut from his reckless charge at the beginning, but the rest were fine besides a few scrapes and bruises. Finally, they managed to pull through to the 5 remaining Toa. “What happened?” Asked Valta as he sliced clumsily at a drone. “That laser turret up there appeared out of nowhere and began shooting at us,” The yellow and Gold armoured female Toa of lightning began to answer as she sent a bolt of lightning out of her sword toward the drone attacking Valta. “It got the acting leader, Kadar. Then it shot at the gate and instead the nearby com tower crashed down and has blocked the gate. I don’t see how we are going to get past all this rubble. Suddenly Firaud and the others sent a huge blast of elements forward, disabling the front row of aliens and drones. Then Firaud unsheathed to staffs from his back and pointed them forward, creating a temporary shield against their attackers. “I can only project this for a few minutes, any suggestions for getting all this rock and metal out of the way?” Firaud asked, his back turned to them. They all shrugged and the Toa of lightning, Sphord, spoke for them all. “Cordo’s been trying for the last few minutes while me and the other guards tried to hold them off. The things too heavy. Unless somebody can magically shape shift into a ogre thing big enough to lift this, I’m afraid we are stuck.” Suddenly, Torren activated his shape shifting power and morphed into a giant creature, with large muscled legs and arms, and a red skin tone. He slammed his fists together and then right into the metal blocking the gate, and disinigrated it into pieces. Leaving the gates wide open. Sphord and the guards stared at the melted tower in amazement. Torren morphed back into his original shape, tired but triumphant from all the shape shifting. “Uh, come on!” He shouted. Firaud reluctantly stuck his staffs in the ground, leaving the shield to run for about a minute more, and they ran off through the gates, out of the stadium, and soon, the Metru. Torren found himself running alongside Sphord. “Shape shifter?” She asked friendly. “Um, yeah.” He said, smiling. * * * * Hours later, the stadium was littered with the bodies of dead drones, aliens, and Toa. Out of the main ship door came a large, shadowy figure. No distinguishable features could be seen on it, except that it was taller then a Toa. It approached a surviving alien in the field. This one was armed with almost tentacle like swords, and held them in its four hands. One of them quivered to reveal another head, with hollow eyes. “Kar.” The wraith hissed in Kar’s mind. “Report.” “Weeee hhhhaaavvveee ddrriivveenn the Toaaaa and the Matorannnnn out of the cityyyyyy...” The alien replied in a slower tone. “Theeee misiionn wassss a sucesssss.” “I wanted them captured Kar, the Wraith warned, “The mission was not a success!” Kar trembled, “Theyyyyy are strongggggg my Lorddddddd. You knowwww thattttttt youreselffffff. “Do not make excuses Kar, I expect you too obey my orders! The Wraith said. It was silent for a few moments. The Wraith projected his thoughts once more. “Do they know it is Axbru who has came?” “Yessss Lord.” “Good, but now I want them to spread the word a bit among the Turaga and the people that know the Truth. Then capture them. It is time to find the one who will bring me to the throne.” “Yesssss Lord.” “Now go.” The wraith watched the figure trail off. He knew Kar would obey him this time. He knew he would obey his master, Axbru!